Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID ND-2025-Xu-1

Carbon quantum dots from agricultural waste for produced water treatment

Institute: North Dakota
Year Established: 2025 Start Date: 2026-01-01 End Date: 2026-12-31
Total Federal Funds: $13,200 Total Non-Federal Funds: $26,180

Principal Investigators: Jiale Xu

Project Summary: Produced water (PW) spills from the energy industry is a serious problem in North Dakota. The high concentration of salt along with presence of heavy metals in PW can have a highly negative impact on soil and water quality. Adsorption through functionalized materials is an efficient and reliable approach. Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are emerging advanced materials that feature excellent physical and chemical properties, which can be used for produced water remediation. Therefore, we propose to utilize soybean fiber waste to produce CQDs to adsorb and extract heavy metals as well as salinity for remediation. Briefly, soybean fiber or other materials are processed by hydrothermal treatment and mixed with activators to enhance the generation of active functional groups. Then, these powers will be pressed to form an immobilized material for practical treatment. Simulated and real brine solutions will be treated with CQD materials from soybean waste.